Pistons aftermath after being eliminated: Is it Rasheed's fault? Will Flip be fired?

Can't replace Sheed!

[IMG]http://www.pixelmarx.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/rasheed-right-on-nba-ref-scandal.jpg[/IMG]

I think it's pretty certain that's it was either 'Sheed or Flip; I'm surprised at Joe D's choice.

[QUOTE=DeuceWallaces]I think it's pretty certain that's it was either 'Sheed or Flip; I'm surprised at Joe D's choice.[/QUOTE]

I'm surprised too.

Dice has one more year (@ around 8 mil...I think?)....he will retire if traded, or maybe come back for one last year (off the bench), with a big pay cut? Sheed and Rip could go out as a big package?....or, Sheed and Tay?.....who knows (probably, not even Joe D. at this point).

I do think, that if Flip is staying....Sheed is not the only starter leaving.

Rumors I have read thus far: Sheed to the Bobcats....Rip to Chicago....only rumors though.

I think Tay, Dyess, and Rip are the definite keepers among the starters.

Tay's perimeter defense and all-around game, combined with his willingness to blend in and complement others on the offensive end, makes him very valuable. And his contract's reasonable...

Dyess plays hard, is a leader, and is perfect for the role of # 1 big man off the bench. I think he can productive for several more years if they keep his minutes around 25-30.

Rip is still in his prime, had a great playoff run, and I can imagine him working very well with Stuckey. I'd keep him over Billups, even though Rip would probably bring back a nice piece or two in a trade.

That leaves Billups and Sheed as prime trade bait. Billups would be tougher to move due to that contract he just signed, but both guys will be attractive to teams looking for a veteran to push them over the top.

This is going to be an interesting summer...

Don't underestimate the job Flip did this year with the bench.

Amir and Max both came along nicely (Max more than Amir, but still...)

Stuckey looks pretty darn comfortable running an offense. Flip deserves some credit for that, doesn't he? At the very least, Flip didn't confuse the crap out of him with a giant offensive playbook. That counts for something.

Afflalo might turn out to be a rotation guy. He wasn't expected to do much out of college, so that would be a plus. Flip gave him some starts and probably helped his confidence grow.

Even Samb had his moments. At the very least, he's a trade throw-in who is more valuable than his minimal salary. Those kinda pieces help make bigger deals happen.

Name the last Piston coach to develop a young talent. Then look at what Flip's done this year and give him some respect for that...

Dumars built the team around guys that were basically discarded by other teams.

If he follows the same model to rebuild (lots of good-not-great guys, hungry guys, reasonable salaries, team depth, young discarded veterans) there may be some surprising names coming back in trade. I'm expecting guys who maybe haven't lived up to expectations and some lunch-pail guys.

Here's some of the guys I can see as Pistons:

Marvin Williams, Leon Powe, Desagana Diop, Jared Jeffries, Anthony Parker, Chris Duhon, Sean May, Roger Mason Jr, Etan Thomas, Luther Head, Mickael Pietrus, Shelden Williams

A couple of those guys can probably be picked up off the scrap heap this summer ala Jarvis Hayes. Others like Marvin Williams would be targeted in a trade where Joe gives up an established guy to take a chance on a younger player (ala Stackhouse for Rip.)

It was reported today that flip saunders will return as head coach of the pistons so stop talkin about

[QUOTE=AI3Anthony]It was reported today that flip saunders will return as head coach of the pistons so stop talkin about[/QUOTE]

It was also reported (by a better reporter with more team connections) that no decision has been made yet.

[url]http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2008/06/saunders_future_to_be_decided.html[/url]

man, bad boys 2 are breaking up? i'll miss this team. one of the funnest teams to watch on and off the court..

Don't be surprised if they are around for 1 more year. Sheed's the most obvious candidate to be moved because of his contract but Joe isn't going to give him away for free. He had a poor conference finals but that aside he was still pretty damn good all year. He showed no sings of slowing down. In fact, I thought he was better this year than he was last year.

Flip is done:

[url]http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3423956[/url]

Yup, Flip is gone...

It's time to un-sticky this tread since Flip is already gone...

just saw on local tv bye bye flip

Its not entirely Rasheed's fault. Its the groups fault. Rasheed doesn't maximize his talent in the post enough but he plays tough defense and is a team leader. Too often it seems like we jump on Rasheed and forget about how bad the rest of the group did.

I feel like Amir Johnson didn't get enough playing time this year. Last summer he wowed GMs in the summer camps and gained enough interest to force Dumars to lock him up for the short term with a 3.3 million dollar contract. Saunders should have been playing Amir and letting him play through mistakes the same way he was letting Stuckey do that. Dumars said, "You know the way Rodney can do certain things for us on the court that nobody else can? I feel the same way about Amir from the frontcourt position with his speed, length, shotblocking." I think Flip definately messed up with AJ and we should've seen a consistent tandem of Max + Amir off the bench.

I think Maxiell can play center if he can body Dwight Howard.

Everybody is on the table. Sheed and McDyess are expirers, and Rip Hamilton's production might be the easiest to replace with Stuckey and Aflallo as the guards. Whatever trade Dumars can get the most value back with he's going to pull the trigger on and that means you never know what could happen. I do expect to see changes and I'm kind of excited.